Death sentences
Archive theme
A death sentence is not the same thing as an execution: years can pass between the two, and the sentence may be overturned on appeal, commuted, or never carried out. Counting them separately measures two different things: how far a state resorts to capital punishment, and how far it actually applies it.
This page collects the news on death sentences handed down around the world, on the later stages of appeal, and on the sentences upheld or overturned. Executions have a page of their own.
Latest news
JANUARY 12, 2023SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: EX-ARMY OFFICER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ROLE IN MOGADISHU BOMBINGS
The Court of the Armed Forces of Somalia has sentenced to death a former army official – Sharif Mohamed Barkhadle Ayanle for his role in Mogadishu blasts, Shabelle Media reported on 12 January 2023.
JANUARY 12, 2023FloridaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Florida. Michael Wayne Jones sentenced to death
Killed wife and 4 children
JANUARY 12, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Maher Eyluli and Ali Abbaszadeh executed in Shiraz on January 12
JANUARY 11, 2023NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: 2 SIBLINGS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING RADIO STATION STAFF
Two siblings have been sentenced to death by hanging in Nigeria after a court found them guilty of the killing of a radio station staff, Pulse reported on 22 December 2022.
JANUARY 11, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPING, KILLING FIVE-YEAR-OLD
A court in Uttar Pradesh on 11 January 2023 awarded a death sentence to a man for raping and killing a five-year-old girl in 2021.
- JANUARY 10, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Three More Protesters Sentenced To Death
Javad Rouhi, Kimia Javadi and Mehdi Mohammadifar
JANUARY 10, 2023TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. Robert Fratta, 65, White, was executed
JANUARY 10, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Peyman Arab Gicheh executed in Karaj on January 10
- JANUARY 9, 2023DEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Three More Death Sentences Over Protests
Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi, and Saeed Yaghoubi
JANUARY 9, 2023MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: 3 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
The High Court of Shah Alam, Malaysia, on 4 January 2023 sentenced three men to death after finding them guilty of trafficking a total of 585.1gm of drugs into the country four years ago.
JANUARY 9, 2023YemenDEATH PENALTYYEMEN: THE HOUTHIS HAVE SENTENCED 350 OF THEIR OPPONENTS TO DEATH
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have issued 350 death sentences since seizing power in a 2014 coup.
JANUARY 9, 2023KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: EGYPTIAN ISLAMIC TEACHER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPING KIDS
An Egyptian Islamic teacher who raped children in Khaitan was sentenced to death by hanging in Kuwait, this was first of the 50 cases he is accused off, Arab Times reported on 9 January 2023.
JANUARY 7, 2023DEATH PENALTYIRAN - Protesters Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini executed
Location not mentioned
- JANUARY 5, 2023DEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Another protester sentenced to death
Arshia Takdastan
JANUARY 4, 2023EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: MAN WHO STRANGLED HIS FIANCÉE SENTENCED TO DEATH
Mohamed Samir, who murdered his fiancée Kholoud Al-Sayed Farouk, has been sentenced to death by a court in Egypt, Middle East Monitor reported on 3 January 2023.
JANUARY 4, 2023NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: ZAMFARA STATE GOVERNOR MATAWALLE PARDONS 9 PRISONERS AWAITING DEATH SENTENCE
Zamfara State Governor, Bello Mohammed Matawalle has pardoned 46 prisoners, nine of whom had been sentenced to death by hanging, and five others that were serving life imprisonment in a Medium Correctional Centre, Gusau
JANUARY 3, 2023DEATH PENALTYUSA - Missouri. Amber McLaughlin executed on January 3
First known US execution of an openly transgender person
JANUARY 3, 2023DEATH PENALTYIRAN - Protester Mansour Dahmardeh sentenced to death
JANUARY 2, 2023DEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mehdi Mohammadi-Fard, age 18, sentenced to death twice
Arrested at protests on September 30, 2022, in Nowshahr
JANUARY 2, 2023DEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ahmed Bachagchi and Azizbeg Hosseini executed in Karaj on January 2
JANUARY 2, 2023DEATH PENALTYIRAN - 623 executions in 2022 in Iran
273 more prisoners executed than last year
- DECEMBER 31, 2022MaliDEATH PENALTY
MALI: 46 IVORIAN SOLDIERS SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS IN PRISON; DEATH IN ABSENTIA GIVEN TO 3
Forty-six Ivorian soldiers in Mali were each sentenced on 30 December 2022 to 20 years in prison by a Malian court for attacking the security of the nation.
- DECEMBER 30, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Stories of 5 men sentenced to death for alleged crimes linked to anti-regime protests
Hamid Ghare-Hasanlou, Mohammad Mehdi Karami, Hossein Mohammadi, Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, Reza Arya.
- DECEMBER 29, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Iranian author sentenced to death
For urging peace in Israel TV interview
DECEMBER 29, 2022PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING TRANSGENDER PERSON IN CHARSADDA
A district and sessions judge in Charsadda on 23 December 2022 convicted a man for killing a transgender person last year and awarded him death sentence with a fine of Rs1 million.
DECEMBER 28, 2022Congo - KinshasaDEATH PENALTYDR CONGO: MILITARY COURT UPHOLDS NINE DEATH SENTENCES
Eight soldiers and one civilian in the Democratic Republic of Congo's war-torn northeast have had death sentences for murder and embezzlement confirmed, court documents showed on 27 December 2022.
DECEMBER 27, 2022JordanDEATH PENALTYJORDAN: COURT RULES EXECUTION BY HANGING FOR MAN WHO KILLED ANOTHER IN 2005
The Grand Criminal Court issued on 26 December 2022 a death sentence by hanging against a man who killed his friend 17 years ago in Aqaba.
DECEMBER 27, 2022VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: HANOI WOMAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
The People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City has sentenced a woman from Hanoi to death for trafficking 9.9 kilograms of heroin.
DECEMBER 26, 2022ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: FORMER MAYOR RECEIVES SUSPENDED DEATH SENTENCE FOR CORRUPTION
A former mayor of Hegang, a city in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on 23 December 2022 for multiple crimes involving corruption, according to a local court.
DECEMBER 26, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - One of the 2 death sentences of Shakir Behrouz was reversed
A Kurdish political prisoner